Kolea news

July 24, 2020

Any day now, I expect to see this cheery line in the subjects of my emails: “My Kolea is back!” The earliest birds will be arriving in Hawaii soon, having flown about four days, nonstop, from their Alaska nesting grounds.

Last summer, Mililani Mauka residents Cheryl and Brian Allen were the first to email me about a Kolea sighting on July 16th. Six days later, July 22nd, Ewa Beach residents, Bruce Carlson and Marj Awai, reported 4 Pacific Golden-Plovers standing on a neighborhood rooftop. The next sightings were July 25th, and continued into August throughout the islands.

Plover expert Wally Johnson thought the July arrivals might have been adults that failed to raise chicks, and so came home.  Or perhaps the opposite: Alaska’s weather and food supply were so good that the summer’s chicks fledged early, leaving parents free to start their vacation early.

Another possibility I discovered this summer, is that some of those “early” birds may have been here all summer. For reasons only the birds know, some don’t migrate.

No one knows how many Kolea spend summers here, because we’ve never counted them. But we are now. In June and early this month, several of us plover lovers walked, bicycled, and drove around Oahu looking for Kolea.

I counted 5 in Punchbowl Cemetery.  Ted and Judy Simon watched 4 birds forage throughout the summer on the Kalani High School practice field. Ceciy Shizuru sent a video of 6 plovers she and her husband spotted in June and July at the Waimanalo Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Robert reported 9 at Turtle Bay’s Fazio golf course. On July 3rd Greg Puppione and his daughter counted 6 Kolea on the Iolani baseball field.  Two Aiea residents reported that their birds didn’t leave.

That’s at least 32 Kolea that stuck around our island this summer, giving us fans a much-needed lift. (“Made my week!” Ceciy wrote.)

Wally warns that we can’t be sure of plovers’ comings and goings without ID bands on their legs to identify individuals. Even so, finding, and recording, those Kolea these past two months is more information than we had in the past.

You can learn more about Hawaii’s Kolea, and help with the Hawaii Audubon Society’s ongoing count at www.koleacount.org

Please record your bird’s return date, and as much information as you know on the website’s REPORT tab. Birds that hatched in Alaska this summer can arrive in Hawaii as late as November, depending on Arctic weather, so young birds may still show up in new places in late fall.

For Craig and I, scouting for, tallying, and photographing plovers last spring and this summer has been a pleasant remedy for our pandemic cabin fever. Join us in this statewide effort to count Kolea.  It’s good medicine.

UPDATE FOR THE HAWAII AUDUBON SOCIETY’S KOLEA COUNT

For the 2020-2021 count, we’re planning on two types of midwinter counts:

BIG COUNTS: We’ll be asking volunteers to sign up to count specific areas, such cemeteries, golf courses and/or parks, of all the main islands. Standby for my location list, counting guidelines, Kolea T-shirts, and other details.

LITTLE COUNTS: Residents who have a Kolea in their yard, or see plovers in areas not on my sign-up list, should report their birds on the website’s REPORT tab as before.

As the project manager of the count, I receive all emails from this and the Kolea Count site. Send questions or information on either of the contact tabs.  I’ll answer and send updates to all subscribers here, and to all who recorded birds and shared email addresses on the Kolea site.

You can help get the Kolea Count word out by sharing this article with others who would like to help.

(This is the first post on my new website.  Thanks for bearing with me during the change.  Please let me know if something doesn’t work, or how I can improve.  Aloha, Susan)